Collosal Crowds?

[RickyW123]

Hi all

Were on our first trip to Disneyworld from the UK and 8 of us (five adult kids and 3 ACTUAL kids) are here for 2 weeks. So far we have been in WDW on Sunday and MGM on Monday. We have thoroughly enjoyed the parks so far, our only surprise was the crowds which were huge. This has meant long queues and we have not been able to cover all the attractions we would have wished to.

I suppose what we would like to know is why are the parks so busy in Feb?

Secondly, can someone suggest when the best time to visit would be and should we avoid the weekends?

Many thanks

Ricky Williams & family

 

[wdwmagic]

When you say huge crowds, can you give some examples?

Hope you are having a great time!

 

[RickyW123]

HI thanks for replying.

Some examples, Tower of Terror at MGM had a 90 minute wait late in the morning and afternoon. Rock n Roller Coaster 120 minute wait! At WDW we lined up for 100 mins to get on to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

We were surprised at the queues as guidebooks had told us this is a quiet time of year to visit.

Best wishes

Ricky

 

[brkgnews]

Unfortunately, you arrived on the weekend of the Daytona 500 (stock car racing) just up the road in Daytona, Florida. Hotel rates are ridiculous in Daytona due to the race, so a lot of people stay at Disney and visit the parks as well. There's also a joint marketing push that includes tickets for both attractions, etc. Crowds should be substantially lower as the week goes on. Enjoy the rest of your trip! :wave:

And remember -- a crowded day at Disney beats a quiet day anywhere else.

 

[wdwmagic]

There really is almost no quiet time at WDW anymore. There are lower attendence periods, but not much that can be described as really quiet.

Make sure that you use Fastpass as much as possible. Use the Extra Magic Hours, get to parks early and/or stay late.

Hope the crowds reduce for you for the rest of your trip.

 

[Nansafan]

Besides Daytona race, it is President's Day weekend here in Chicago with a 3-4 day weekend for the elementary and high schools. I know lots of people who will travel to WDW for this weekend.

 

[RickyW123]

Thanks for the replies. I'll take any lesser attendances over the huge crowds we experienced so far, I suppose that is the price to pay for the parks being so great.

Thanks for the info re Daytona. I suppose this might explain why the parks got even busier during the evening.

We did manage to fastpass Tower of Terror, by getting a FP at midday to come back at 7.30pm! Boy that ride was popular and we found out why. My youngest son is 4 and would you believe he insisted on going on the ride and had a smile on his face the whole way through :ROFLOL:. In contrast my stomach was in my mouth and my brain was suffering from sensory overload

Best wishes

Ricky

 

[Slipknot]

A holiday weekend is the worst time to come to WDW. Not to mention Nascar's season opening races were a mere 70-something miles northeast via I4 in Daytona this weekend too.

To me, the best days of the week to be at WDW are weekdays (tuesday, wednesday, and maybe thursday).

 

[miles1]

We were there this same week two years ago. The crowds dropped off markedly on Tuesday after President's day and were low until the following Sunday, which was the start of bike week that year. I hope you have a great time!

 

[coltow]

Schools in Massachusetts are off this week for winter break. I'm sure there are other states that are off this week too, which means more people travel to Florida to get away from the cold.

 

[mousermerf]

Well, here's the crowd predictions from the Unofficial Guide (you can't get the full year free from the web anymore, you need to have the "book" or a site subscription, but you can get the next 30 days) :

Date Level Goto / Avoid / Events
Tue, 20 Feb '07 9 MK / EP DS AK
Wed, 21 Feb '07 8 DS / AK
Thu, 22 Feb '07 9 EP AK / MK
Fri, 23 Feb '07 7 AK / MK EP DS /Pirates and Princess
Sat, 24 Feb '07 9 MK EP /DS AK
Sun, 25 Feb '07 7 AK /MK
Mon, 26 Feb '07 6 EP /MK DS AK /Pirates and Princess
Tue, 27 Feb '07 7 MK /EP DS AK
Wed, 28 Feb '07 5 DS /AK
Thu, 01 Mar '07 6 EP AK /MK
Fri, 02 Mar '07 5 AK /EP DS /Pirates and Princess
Sat, 03 Mar '07 6 MK EP /DS AK /ESPN The Weekend
Sun, 04 Mar '07 7 AK /MK DS /ESPN The Weekend
Mon, 05 Mar '07 6 EP /DS AK /Pirates and Princess
Tue, 06 Mar '07 6 MK /EP DS AK

 

[Launchpad]

We went over to Animal Kingdom on Sunday to see what the park was like when the sun went down. We got there at 3:00 and wanted to get FastPasses for later on in the evening so we could ride E:E when it was dark. FastPasses were already out (not suprised) so we planned on waiting. At 5:30 the wait was 120 minutes.




We didn't wait.

 

[hokielutz]

This week figures to have higher attendance because of the Daytona and President's day holiday. There are people here that will take the one day off from school and pull their kids out for a week trip to Disney. So this week is probably going to have higher attendance than next week.

The main thing to do in order to beat the crowds is Go early and leave after lunch. Then come back in the evening. Enjoy the pool at your resort, do Minigolf, watch a movie, take a nap, or go shopping at DTD to pass the afternoon away. Use Fast Passes for any attractions with a 40+ minute wait.

But most of all... relax and have fun.

 

[hokielutz]

We went over to Animal Kingdom on Sunday to see what the park was like when the sun went down. We got there at 3:00 and wanted to get FastPasses for later on in the evening so we could ride E:E when it was dark. FastPasses were already out (not suprised) so we planned on waiting. At 5:30 the wait was 120 minutes.


We didn't wait.

Hey launchpad... where was the end of the queue line at 5:30?

 

[Launchpad]

Hey launchpad... where was the end of the queue line at 5:30?

Not really sure. We walked in from the Dino side and saw the time, stopped in our tracks, and turned around and walked away after a few expletives. It was hard to tell where the line started since the area was really constipated. :shrug:

I heard they were having problems with the ride earlier in the day so that could have been part of the reason for the long wait. Dinosaur even jumped up to 70 minutes. Yikes.

 

[Pr1nce55]

All the New York City public schools have this week off tto

 

[hokielutz]

Not really sure. We walked in from the Dino side and saw the time, stopped in our tracks, and turned around and walked away after a few expletives. It was hard to tell where the line started since the area was really constipated. :shrug:

I heard they were having problems with the ride earlier in the day so that could have been part of the reason for the long wait. Dinosaur even jumped up to 70 minutes. Yikes.

Thanks anyways...

You know... for the newest and greatest attraction that WDW has... EE really manages the queue lines very well. it always seems like the lines are moving and once you get inside the museum... its full speed ahead to the loading platform. You never really have time to look at even half the exhibits in the building before you are on the loading platform.

Anyways... my point is that I think EE really pushes the crowds through, but it also overstates its queue waiting time.

 

[KelsaBels]

As someone mentioned earlier, Mass and many other states have this week off. Also, New Hampshire and some other states have next week off.

Even though it's busy, I'm still jealous! Keep having fun!!!

 

[MissM]

We were at MK on Saturday and it was absurdly packed. Just a mass of people. Felt more reminiscent of New Year's than mid-February. We even got stuck in a traffic jam between Peter Pan and it's a small world. The entire place was a mass standstill. Took us a good ten minutes to clear through the area.

It got better later on at night, and when I saw one of my CM friends that night, she said it's Speed Week (for Nascar), Cheerleader week (it was batons that day) and President's Day Weekend. She said HM was pushing near 2 hours at one point of the day. The queue snaked all the way to the Steamboat!

Anyway, I feel your pain. Sadly, it was a grumpy, pushy, rude crowd on Saturday which made the fact it was crowded all the more frustrating. Hope it thins out for you.
-m

 

[maggiegrace1]

It is also Mardi Gras down here in New Orleans and lots of people go during this time..